1 ¶ Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed? {report: or, doctrine?: Heb. hearing?} 2  For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. 3  He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. {we hid…: or, he hid as it were his face from us: Heb. as an hiding of faces from him, or, from us} (Isaiah 53:1-3 KJV)53:1-3

INTRODUCTION: In the previous messages we have seen a horrified crowd of spectator, we have seen the crowd of Kings and rulers who were startled. Now we have another crowd looking upon him. These are they who have heard the report, They have look upon him, and yet despised and rejected him.

When we consider that He is the rejected one we can take comfort that when we are rejected for doing as we ought that he truly understands. We see at least three reasons for rejecting him

 1. Unbelief v1

 2. Lowly origin and mysterious growth v. 2

 3. Lack of beauty v. 2

From these reason it lead men to then and now

 1. Despise him

 2. Treat him as a leper.

I.    The Reject, Because of Unbelief. "Who hath believed our report?''

A.    Twice quoted in the New Testament.

1.    John 12:38 Here the Lord addresses the question to the Father. Those of his day had seen the miracles that accompanied his teaching, they had heard his words yet they were unbelieving.

“That the saying of Esaias the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spake, Lord, who hath believed our report? and to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed?” (Joh 12:38 KJV)

2.    Rom 10:16 Here Paul uses the quote to explain why the Jewish nation had not believed the preaching of the apostles and the church.

 “But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report?” (Ro 10:16 KJV)

B.    When we note that The Lord himself take this lack of others believing the report to the Father, it should be an encouragement for us to take our failure to the Lord.

1.    The object of our ministry is to get men to believe what we have reported about the Lord.

2.    When we have a report to give and other don't believe we should seek to know why men don't believe.

a)     Are there reasons within us that they don't believe?

b)     Have we just heard or have we made what we are sharing a part of our lives? Can they see the difference He has made?

II.    The Rejected's Strength

The Arm of the Lord pictures the strength of the Rejected one. This is one Isaiah's favorite expression.

A.    What is meant by the term?

1.    God is spirit and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and truth.

a)     Therefore without body parts or passions.

b)     Therefore it is a figure of speech, like trees clapping their hands.

2.    The Arm is that by which we execute a purpose. If we decide to eat we use our arm to get the food to our mouth, if we decide to fight we use our arm to get our fist to his jaw.

3.    It is a natural symbol of the active energy of Jehovah.

a)     The reference to “the arm made bare” is of going to war, or work.

B.    Where is the arm of the Rejected one seen?

1.    Creation, Jeremiah 27:5, Jeremiah 32:17

I have made the earth, the man and the beast that are upon the ground, by my great power and by my outstretched arm, and have given it unto whom it seemed meet unto me. (Jeremiah 27:5 KJV)

Ah Lord GOD! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee: {too…: or, hid from thee} (Jeremiah 32:17 KJV)

2.    Redemption Exod 6:6 and Psa. 77:15 Creation is spoken of as the work of his fingers (Ps. 8:3) but redemption required His arm, thus it seems to be more difficult to redeem than to create.

Wherefore say unto the children of Israel, I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with a stretched out arm, and with great judgments: (Exodus 6:6 KJV)

Thou hast with thine arm redeemed thy people, the sons of Jacob and Joseph. Selah. (Psalms 77:15 KJV)

When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; (Psalms 8:3 KJV)

3.    Salvation Isaiah 59:16

And he saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor: therefore his arm brought salvation unto him; and his righteousness, it sustained him. (Isaiah 59:16 KJV)

4.    Providence Isaiah 51:5

My righteousness is near; my salvation is gone forth, and mine arms shall judge the people; the isles shall wait upon me, and on mine arm shall they trust. (Isaiah 51:5 KJV)

5.    Eternal Preservation Isaiah 40:11

He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young. {that…: or, that give suck} (Isaiah 40:11 KJV)

C.    What is the character of the arm of the Rejected one.

1.    Almighty strength and power

2.    Guided by unerring wisdom

3.    Controlled by unfailing love.

4.    Paralyzed by unbelief Isaiah 51:9, Matthew 13:58

Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the LORD; awake, as in the ancient days, in the generations of old. Art thou not it that hath cut Rahab, and wounded the dragon? (Isaiah 51:9 KJV)

 And he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief. (Matthew 13:58 KJV)

III.    The Growth of the Rejected One.

A.    The fact of his Growth.

1.    This is one of the paradoxes of the Passage, He was born the embodiment of the God head yet he grew in wisdom and stature. Luke 2:52

And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man. {stature: or, age} (Luke 2:52 AV

2.    Stature is physical

3.    Yet Wisdom implies that the All-knowing in the Person of the Son had to grow and learn to be wise.

4.    Ps. 22:9 would seem to indicate that as a babe in his mothers arms he possessed self-consciousness, mental alertness, spiritual longing and hope that is a God-given conviction respecting future thing.

But thou art he that took me out of the womb: thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mother’s breasts. {didst…: or, kept me in safety} (Psalms 22:9 KJV)

5.    One babe ever had such an experience, and that was the Babe of Bethlehem.

B.    The Delight his Growth Brought.

1.    1.'Before Him' His growth was before the Father and the Father took pleasure in his development. 'This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. "

2.    This also conveys the idea that we was ever conscious of the Father's Presence

C.    The Protection of His Growth.

1.    "As a tender plant." Tender--oh so tender! Yet guarded and Kept by the Father's Love.

D.    The Royalty of that Growth.

1.    "As a root out of the dry ground." It is difficult to if not impossible to cultivate a root in dry soil. If you keep potatoes in a dark damp place they will grow with out soil, but if you put them in dry ground without moisture they will dry up.

1    So it is with the Son of God.

a)     He was Born in a stable--To be come the King of the Universe.

b)     He was raise in a peasant home--To be come the Monarch of Monarchs

c)     He had a humble villege education--and He is the Wisdom of the Ages.

2.    This picture not the ascent of man but the descent of God. not the climbing of the human into the divine as the condescension of the Divine into the human.

3.    His birth was not a mere birth but an incarnation.

E.    The Beauty of His Growth. "He hath not form or comeliness...no beauty.

What Does this mean certainly he was not ugly. But his beauty was not the beauty of this world. He had:

1.    Physical Beauty -- A perfectly formed and beautifully fashioned body.

2.    Mental Beauty -- for only a beautiful mind could have conceived the Sermon on the Mount.

3.    Moral Beauty -- most certainly was he

4.    Beauty of Disposition

5.    Beauty of Action

IV.    The Rejection of the Rejected One

A.    No value was set on Him. "We esteemed him not."

B.    He was despised.

1.    All rejected are not despised He was both.

2.    He was despised and then rejected.

3.    This may be a picture of the leper--his filthiness is despised and because of his disease he was rejected. The AIDS victim of today.

C.    He had everything going for him and yet he was despised and rejected.

1.    Should be get so discouraged when we who are imperfect are rejected and even despised.

2.    We should count it a privilege to be rejected by the world he was.

D.    He was despised in the past, but he is still rejected today.

1.    While he minister here on earth he was despised, cast out to the cross,

2.    But now he Who is the answer to all man's need is still rejected.

3.    Don't you be one of those who reject him.

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